MCA Scuttlebutt

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for listening and your continued support. This week, we continue our Road to 250 segment, celebrating the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday in 2025. Throughout the rest of the year, we’ll feature stories and history from throughout the 250 years of the Marine Corps. These episodes will be nested within the MCA’s overall Road to 250 Campaign, where you will find featured articles in both the Gazette and Leatherneck highlighting events and battles within specific periods in Marine Corps history. The MCA also has a commemorative Road to 250 coin collection. These commemorative challenge coins can only be found through the MCA. Go to marineshop.net to order individual coins or email customerservice@mca-marines.org to order the entire set or learn more.  For August, we walk the Road to 250 during the Vietnam War era with our guest and Leatherneck legend, Paul Thompson.  As a young Marine Combat Correspondent, Sgt Paul Thompson was assigned to the staff of Leatherneck in the 1960s. He traveled throughout Vietnam, telling Marines’ stories as he covered the war for the magazine. Paul joins us in studio to tell us what it was like being recording history as it unfolded.  Enjoy!  Related Leatherneck Articles:The People of Leatherneck, November 2017 Hue, July 1968 – Republished February 2022 <p>The post #206: Road to 250 – Vietnam War with Leatherneck Legend Paul Thompson first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we continue with our audio-only Modern Day Marine 2025 series. As with the previous MDMs, we were recording from the showroom floor, but as some of you know, this year we recorded some on video for our YouTube channel and others we recorded as audio-only podcasts. For the next few weeks, we will be releasing these audio-only conversations that range from veteran support organizations to future ops and wargaming to Toys for Tots. We’re really looking forward to sharing these conversations with you.   This week’s episode features the Marine Corps Warfighting Lab’s Sergeant Major, SgtMaj Christopher Singley. SgtMaj Singley joins us after having presented at the Warfighting Pavilion on Day 2 of Modern Day Marine, speaking on the 30 years of innovation at the Warfighting Lab. SgtMaj talks to us more about that, and he gives us some history on the Warfighting Lab and the genesis of its mission, his thoughts on the value of experimentation, and MCWL’s role in the projection and implementation of Force Design.   Enjoy!  <p>The post #205: MDM 2025 – MCWL Sergeant Major, SgtMaj Christopher Singley first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and for your continued support. This week, we continue with our audio-only Modern Day Marine 2025 series. As with the previous MDMs, we were recording from the showroom floor, but as some of you know, this year we recorded some on video for our YouTube channel and others we recorded as audio-only podcasts. For the next few weeks, we will be releasing these audio-only conversations that range from veteran support organizations to future ops and wargaming to Toys for Tots. We’re really looking forward to sharing these conversations with you.   This week’s episode features Gunnery Sergeant Kevin Harris. Gunny Harris was the Delta Company Course Chief at the School of Infantry East but took over the role of Battalion Chief Instructor in June. Gunny talks to us about his impression of Modern Day Marine and how innovation plays into his training plan, namely drones and UAS, and how he applies this knowledge into developing future Marine infantrymen.    Enjoy!  <p>The post #204: MDM 2025- GySgt Kevin Harris, SOI-E first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we begin our audio-only Modern Day Marine 2025 series. As with the previous MDMs, we were recording from the showroom floor, but as some of you know, this year we recorded some on video for our YouTube channel and others we recorded as audio-only podcasts. For the next few weeks, we will be releasing these audio-only conversations that range from veteran support organizations to future ops and wargaming to Toys for Tots. We’re really looking forward to sharing these conversations with you.   This week’s episode features the President of the Marine Scout Sniper Heritage Foundation, Tim Parkhurst. Tim talks to us about the history of Marine scout snipers, his efforts to continue to collect and increase the awareness of the Marine scout snipers, and his and his foundation’s efforts to build a scout sniper war memorial at the Semper Fidelis Memorial Park. This is a great conversation about the legacy of these storied Marines.    Enjoy!  linkedin.com/in/timothyparkhurst  scoutsniperheritage.org/memorial  <p>The post #203: MDM 2025 – Marine Scout Sniper Heritage Foundation President, Tim Parkhurst first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and for your continued support. This week, we welcome Ryan Pavel to the show. Ryan is the CEO of the Warrior-Scholar Project and the inaugural winner of the Marine Corps University Foundation’s General Alfred M. Gray National Award for Service and Education. We caught Ryan while he was in the DC area, and he was kind enough to come and talk with us about transitioning from service, particularly into higher education. Ryan discusses the challenges veterans have moving into academic spaces, from expectations to enrollment to ways of being successful. Spoiler alert: Oftentimes, properly defining what success is will enable your ability to achieve it. Ryan and the Warrior-Scholar Project help address these challenges and prepare veterans for success. Ryan’s perspectives are invaluable, and his energy is infectious. We had a lot of fun talking about this serious topic.  Enjoy!  warrior-scholar.org/apply  linkedin.com/in/ryanpavel  twobitrye.com  <p>The post #202: Warrior Scholarship and Transitioning into Higher Education with Ryan Pavel first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we continue our Road to 250 segment, celebrating the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday in 2025. Throughout the rest of the year, we’ll feature stories and history from throughout the 250 years of the Marine Corps. These episodes will be nested within the MCA’s overall Road to 250 Campaign, where you will find featured articles in both the Gazette and Leatherneck highlighting events and battles within specific periods in Marine Corps history. The MCA also has a commemorative Road to 250 coin collection. These commemorative challenge coins can only be found through the MCA. Go to marineshop.net to order individual coins or email customerservice@mca-marines.org to order the entire set or learn more.  This month, we walk the Road to 250 with frequent guest and friend of the show, SgtMaj Justin LeHew. SgtMaj LeHew talks to us about how the WWII and Korean War period helped define the Marine Corps. Where we can’t overstate the significance of the Marine Corps’ amphibiosity during the Island Hopping Campaign, we talk about how vision and innovation during the pre-war years, and the employment of Marines during the Korean War, namely the amphibious landings at Inchon, may have done even more to solidify the Marine Corps as the amphibious force in readiness.   <p>The post #201: Road to 250 – WWII Amphibiosity with SgtMaj Justin LeHew first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. Well, here we are, episode 200. We can say with all sincerity that this milestone is as much of a surprise to us as I’m sure it is to you. But, we are so thankful for your support and for giving us an excuse to run our soup coolers for an hour a week. And as a thank you to our listeners for continuing to tune in every week, we’ve got a great guest for you this week.   We honestly wrestled with how we were going to approach our 200th. Were we going to do something in-house? Do a panel of our favorite guests? Well, I think we nailed it. For our 200th episode, we bring a treat to your ear holes, 1stSgt Chase McGrorty-Hunter. It would be a lie if I told you that we planned this (as I’m sure many of you are aware, there is very little planning that goes into what we do)  because it’s actually amazing that we waited 200 episodes to have Chase on. But as fate would have it, Chase was back in the Q-Town area and was generous with his time to come into the studio to have a little chin wag. And wag chins we did. Chase has an extensive body of work that can’t be contained in the limits of this show description but he talks with us about his journey to the yellow footprints, the value of not just professional military education but continuing education in general, and his future projects and leadership vision for enlisted Marines. We’re so happy to share this conversation with you all and are so happy this worked out to be our 200th episode.   instagram.com/chase_hunter  linkedin.com/in/chase-mcgrorty-hunter-2a3ba9ab  threads.com/@bayonet_warfighting_society  instagram.com/bayonet_warfighting_society  https://www.mca-marines.org/wp-content/uploads/LNK-November-2022.pdf <p>The post #200: Capturing the Narrative with 1stSgt Chase McGrorty-Hunter first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we welcome Jonathan “JT” Taylor to the show. JT is a retired sergeant, a former scout sniper, and the President of the Scout Sniper Association. And at the time of the recording, JT was submitting a package to History Division to be confirmed as having the longest confirmed kill in Marine Corps history. Even more amazing than that is his work with the Scout Sniper Association. JT embodies the ethos of no Marine left behind and he and his brethren at the Scout Sniper Association are dedicated to making sure that this is true for the Marine scout sniper community. As a veteran support organization, they focus on not only maintaining the brotherhood that veteran Marines felt while in uniform, but also looking out for one another, even though they may be thousands of miles away. JT talks to us about hog calls, reunions, family support, and even raising funds to ensure their members can make their house payments. I mean, one of the first buttons you see on the home page of their website is: Request Help. JT has a great story, and we’re thrilled he came on to tell it. scoutsniper.org <p>The post #199: Telling the Scout Sniper story with the President of the Scout Sniper Association, Jonathan “JT” Taylor first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we welcome Brian O’Hare to the show. Using the term “welcome to the show” is a bit of a misnomer for what is actually happening in this episode. It is more accurate to say that Brian welcomed us into his brain. And what a ride! This was one of the most fun episodes we’ve done as Brian is one of the most interesting people we’ve had the pleasure of speaking with. Trying to summarize the episode is an effort in futility, but the intent of bringing him on was to talk about his book, Surrender, and to get the story of his journey from Naval Academy midshipman to Marine to Hollywood renaissance man. What ended up happening was something that was that but also something so much more than we expected. Like stories of drinking with John Waters in Baltimore as a second lieutenant and ending up playing a convict in the movie Cry Baby. Please enjoy this wild ride with Brian O’Hare. We sure did.  Enjoy! <p>The post #198: Shenanigans with the author of the book Surrender, Brian O’Hare first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>

Hey, Scuttlebutt listeners. Thank you for joining us and your continued support. This week, we continue our Road to 250 segment, celebrating the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday in 2025. Over the next year, we’ll feature stories and history from throughout the 250 years of the Marine Corps. These episodes will be nested within the MCA’s overall Road to 250 Campaign, where you will find featured articles in both the Gazette and Leatherneck highlighting events and battles within specific periods in Marine Corps history. The MCA also has a commemorative Road to 250 coin collection. These commemorative challenge coins can only be found through the MCA. Go to marineshop.net to order individual coins or email customerservice@mca-marines.org to order the entire set or learn more. For June, we walk the Road to 250 with Gazette and Leatherneck Editor-In-Chief, Col Chris Woodbridge. Col Woodbridge talks to us about the significance of the Interwar Period, the impact of the global crises of the time, and how this period shaped the future trajectory of the Marine Corps. Enjoy! <p>The post #197: Road to 250 – The Interwar Period with Col Chris Woodbridge, USMC (Ret) first appeared on Marine Corps Association.</p>